The supremacy of Sri Lanka’s cricket today is due to the sweat and blood they shed decades ago, for pure passion and commitment. No massive prize-money, no advertisements, no player contracts, no full-time coaches or physios, yet they did their part laboriously laying the foundation for a tiny nation to become world’s super power in cricket. Here is Sri Lanka’s first Test Captain, the unforgettable Bandula Warnapura with his granddaughter. Our staff photographer Saman Abeysiriwardana last week captured this at Warnapura’s residence in Kotte as he explained to The Sunday Morning how they toiled from the 1960s to develop Sri Lanka cricket amidst enormous hardships. Yet, Bandula as all other Lankan fans was aghast at that game’s status quo. In the picture on left is Warnapura with the 1979 ICC Trophy, offered to the best non-Test playing country. He captained in place of an injured Anura Tennekoon in the tournament final played in Worcester against Canada in 1979. Often considered the last hurdle before gaining Test status, the ICC Trophy has been held ten times since 1979. Its last edition held this year was won by Afghanistan, who eventually ousted Sri Lanka from the recent Asia Cup, as if to give us an indication as to how serious the predicament of our cricket today.